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Business for Democracy and ASBC Lead Effort to Overturn Citizens United v. FEC

The Business for Democracy Campaign, which the American Sustainable Business Council is spearheading in partnership with Free Speech for People is tackling the compelling issue of corporate contributions to political campaigns.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision on January 21, 2010 allows corporations to spend unlimited funds to support or oppose candidates for political office, overturning campaign finance laws in place for decades. The Business for Democracy campaign is an initiative of business leaders and their companies who believe this ruling is in direct conflict with American democratic principles and a serious threat to good government. The campaign supports the four members of the Supreme Court and the 80 percent of Americans who disagree with the decision (Washington Post poll, Feb. 17, 2010).

If you'd like your business to join this effort, you can sign the statement of support here or here.

Statement by the Commonwealth Trade Unions Group to the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of the Government Meeting (CHOGM) (Perth, Australia, 28-30 October 2011)

Brussels, 15 July 2011 (ITUC OnLine): The statement published today by the the Commonwealth Trade Unions Group sets out a number of specific, measurable and realistic proposals for action by the Commonwealth Heads of the Government.

The statement “Creating socially and environmentally resilient growth through decent work” supports strongly the successful development of intergovernmental cooperation through the Commonwealth in order to attain democracy, human rights and decent work in all its countries. On the occasion of the 62nd Anniversary of the modern Commonwealth, the CTUG calls on Commonwealth leaders to make this unique institution play a greater role in achieving socially equitable and sustainable development for all and re-affirming the principles of equality, consensus and cooperation of the 1949 London Declaration. The CTUG believes strongly in the institutions of the Commonwealth and calls on Commonwealth leaders to give priority, and devote resources, to the work of those institutions.

The CTUG calls on the CHOGM to support a new global economic governance that can adopt new policies to mitigate the crises, including by increased social spending and counter-cyclical economic policies, regulation of financial markets, financial transaction taxes and action on tax havens, elimination of speculation on food and the increase of food production, and commitment to mitigate and adapt to climate change while providing for food security.

The statement emphasises that free, independent and representative trade unions give working people a say in their own future. It highlights the need for promoting consultation and dialogue with trade unions and representative employers’ organisations and asks the Commonwealth Secretariat to monitor progress towards the universal ratification by all Commonwealth countries of ILO Convention 144 on Tripartite Consultation and report to the next CHOGM in 2013. It also urges the Commonwealth to hold annual meetings of Commonwealth Labour Ministers, possibly, alongside the International Labour Conference – Moreover, the CTUG statement underlines that Decent Work is recognised by the United Nations as central to poverty alleviation and that it should be placed at the core of social and economic policy development. Yet currently, decent work and job security are increasingly threatened in many Commonwealth countries.

The priorities of the he Commonwealth Trade Unions Group focuses on the development of a coherent and robust peer review mechanism to audit performance by Commonwealth member states against the Harare Principles; establishment of an annual meeting of Commonwealth Labour Ministers; adoption of a target for full ratification of the ILO core conventions by all Commonwealth countries; agreement on ambitious targets including mitigation goals that would sustain the global increase in temperature within the 2°C objective and pursuit of a Just Transition to the low-carbon economy and the establishment of an observatory to monitor the impact on Commonwealth countries of trade agreements

More invaluable advice from Robert A. G. Monks, analyzing the new breed of dysfunctional “drone corporations.” He calls out the most influential trustees of pension funds, endowments, and foundations by name to take responsibility. A must read by asset managers and trustees worldwide.

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